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BBLIVKliaD BBFOBE THB 



f IjiranUia ^oci^p for ptomotins ?Jaticuftwrc, 



AT ITS ANNUAL MEETIN€J 



' EIGHTEENTH OF JANUARY, 1825. 



m©IBIllBS§ WAW^Q 



PXJBtlSHBD BY ORDER OP THE SOCIETY. 



' ■• v 
PHILADELPHIA^ 

Printed at the Port Folio O^ee 

1825, 



/ 



M 



:i' \ 



At a meeting of the "Philadelphia Society for 
promoting Agriculture,'* held January ISth, 1825: 

The annual address was delivered by Roberts 
Vaux, Esquire: 

Whereupon, Resolved unanimously^ That the 
thanks of the Society be presented to Roberts Vaux, 
Esquire, for his able and eloquent oration delivered 
this day, and that he be requested to furnish a copy 
for publication. 

Extract from the Minutes. 

WILLIAM H. KEATING, Sec'ry. 



^IDIDIBIg^^ 



I COME into the presence of the society under discouraging 
circumstances. 

The practical knowledge of farming, and rural affairs, dis- 
played in the productions of some of my predecessors, the 
deep research and various learning which embody and adorn 
the discourses of others, and the distinguished skill and abili- 
ty of all who have addressed you on similar occasions, forbid 
the indulgence of a hope that it will now be in my power to 
submit to the husbandman facts, or to suggest to the theorist 
speculations of much novelty or importance. Without shrink- 
ing however from the task you have assigned me, I shall 
esteem myself fortunate, if, as an humble labourer in the 
same field from which this ancient association has reaped 
abundant harvests, alike honourable to itself, and useful to 
the community, I should be enabled to glean a single sheaf 
worthy of its friendly notice and acceptance. 

When we reflect that the art which this institution labours 
to cherish and improve, is coeval with the formation of hu- 
man society, it is remarkable, that it should not have arrived 
at a higher degree of perfection. The unhappy progenitor 
of our race, for whose unfaithfulness the ground was cursed. 



and thenceforth yielded the most noxious plants, could have 
had but little disposition, and perhaps less resolution, to at- 
tempt the cultivation of the soil, which every where bore 
testimony to the recent displeasure of the Deity. It is pro- 
bable that Adam, and most of his immediate descendants, 
subsisted on the spontaneous productions of the vallies, the 
animals of the forest, and the inhabitants of the water and of 
the air — though Cain, we know, tilled the earth, and it is after- 
wards recorded that Noah applied himself to husbandry, and 
the planting of a vineyard. 

The Egyptians made some progress in agriculture, and 
the ancient people of Italy were, it is believed, better hus- 
bandmen than the present. According to the authority of 
Virgil and other cotemporary writers, rural economy was 
well understood and practised by the Romans during the 
Augustan age. To that celebrated people Britain was indebt- 
ed for much knowledge concerning the cultivation of the 
earth. The plough, and most of the grains now raised upon 
her fruitful soil, were introduced at the period of their inva- 
sion. After these martial instructors had retired from Bri- 
tain, many causes operated to check the progress of improve- 
ment in husbandry; and from the Norman conquest, which 
broughtin the feudal system, to the time of the 8th Henry, 
this noble art, so far from deriving aid from the lights of sci- 
ence, was allowed to languish, and to fall into contempt, 
during a succession of centuries. 

It is a prejudice, irreconcilable with the general intelli- 
gence, which characterizes our countrymen, that agriculture 
can be availingly promoted by those only " whose talk is of 
oxen, and who are employed in their labours,^^ The atten- 
tion of Europe was awakened towards this essential depart- 
ment of human industry, by an English judge, who not only 
prescribed modes for bettering the condition of the land, 
but contrived implements of husbandry, inquired into the 
causes, and recommended a judicious treatment, of the dis- 



eases of domestic animals. He also gave plans for the im- 
provement of farm-buildings, and the embellishment of the 
long neglected estates of the kingdom. Sir Anthony Fitz- 
herbert, to whom England owes so much for the revival of 
agriculture and rural taste, published two works on country 
affairs, about the year 1534. These volumes serve, among 
other testimony, to prove, that what might then have been 
regarded as idle theory, obnoxious to the ridicule of the ig- 
norant, has since been universally adopted, from the seeming- 
ly insignificant conception of banding wheels with iron, and 
the simple contrivance for harnessing a team of horses, to the 
more extensive operations of reclaiming and cropping land, 
subjects which previously had not been suggested, much less 
gravely and ably recommended in a book. From the moral 
and economical advice ivhich he imparted, I cannot forbear 
selecting a few lessons, as worthy of respect and obedience 
now, though almost three hundred years have elapsed since 
they were first promulgated for the instruction of the farmer. 
^' I would advise him,'' says Fitzherbert, " to rise by time 
in the morning, and go about his closes, pastures, fields, and 
specially by the hedges, and when he seeth any thing that 
would be amended, to write it in his tables, and if he cannot 
write, let him nick the defects upon a stick. As if he find 
any beasts, sheep, or swine, in his pastures that be not his 
own, and peradventure though they be his own, he would 
not have them to go there. Let him look," adds eur author, 
" if any water stands on his pastures, upon his grass, whereby 
he may take double hurt, both the loss of his grass, and rot- 
ting of his sheep and calves. And see if any gate be broken 
down, or findeth or seeth any thing amiss that should be 
amended. Also take heed, both early and late, at all times, 
w^hat manner of people resort and come to thy house, and the 
cause of their coming, and specially if they bring with them 
pitchers, bottles, or wallets, for if thy servants be not true, 
they may do thee great hurt, and themselves little advantage. 



wherefore they would be well looked upon.'* Agriculture 
was subsequently indebted to learned men such as Blythe, 
and Plattes, who experimented and wrote during the reign 
of Cromwell, and after the restoration, to Sir Richard Wes- 
ton, and the ingenious Tull, who were followed by Lord 
Karnes and others of deserved celebrity. 

Leaving, however, remote times and countries, with which 
are associated names worthy of respectful remembrance, as 
the benefactors of husbandry and of mankind, I would solicit 
your attention towards our native land, while, with a na- 
tural and justifiable attachment, I briefly pursue this interest- 
ing subject in relation to our own Pennsylvania, 

A century and a half has not yet elapsed since our virtuous 
and adventurous ancestors came hither to subdue the wilder- 
ness, and provide, from a virgin soil, the means of subsist- 
ence. In that period, the fields which they cultivated have 
passed from a wild, or strictly natural state, to one of .-greater 
melioration and productiveness, consequent upon tillage, until 
at length they have been reduced to a comparatively im- 
poverished condition. The first settled districts were so 
completely worn, as within the last forty years to require 
various artificial means for their restoration; nor could they 
otherwise have supplied the wants of a rapidly increasing 
population, spreading over our territory, collecting in the 
metropolis, and in other towns which have since risen into 
notice, to profit by a foreign demand growing out of the 
desolating wars in which Europe was long and unhappily 
involved. 

The modes of cultivation, which were of necessity origi- 
nally adopted, had been unwisely pursued by the successors 
of the hardy conquerors of the forest long after that necessity 
had ceased to exist, until at length the once fruitful fields of 
the parents yielded but a mere competence for their children, 
and afforded but a pittance for the generation that followed. 
These results were inevitable from the system of misman- 



agement which annually grew crops, of the same kind, on 
the same inclosures and that too without providing any nour- 
ishment for the earth, which was thus continually and gene- 
rously giving off its strength. Owing to these causes, and 
others incident to the war of the revolution, agriculture was 
greatly depressed between the period of the recognition of 
independence, and the restoration of peace in 1783. Hus- 
bandry, in the New-England colonies, had always been un- 
equal to the demand for bread-stuffs at home, and as the 
population increased, a certain portion, with characteristic 
enterprize, sought employment in adjoining regions on the 
west, whilst another part, by more perilous achievements, 
drew resources from the sea. The inhabitants of the southern 
section of the country, burdened with a wretched and enslav- 
ed race of labourers, were in a destitute condition, and the 
territories, beyond the great chain of mountains which tra- 
verse the whole line of our dominion, had not yet yielded 
to the footsteps of civilization, nor felt the powerful influ- 
ences which have since extended the empire of social man to 
the shores of the Pacific ocean. 

The first emigrants to Pennsylvania most generally were 
from the agricultural districts of England, and brought much 
information of the actual state of cultivation in the country 
from which oppression had driven them. In addition to this 
favouring circumstance, it was one of the wise provisions of 
the illustrious founder of the province, to appropriate to each 
settler so small a portion of land as to interest him in its im- 
mediate improvement, a measure which, he no doubt fore- 
saw, would not only prevent a spirit of speculation and rest- 
lessness, but contribute to the formation of the best dispo- 
sitions and habits among those who shared with him the 
perils and the benefits of his benevolent enterprize. 

Pennsylvania at all times took the lead of the other pro- 
vinces, in the amount and variety of her productions, the 
exportation of which, in 1751, was astonishingly great, as will 



J? 



10 

appear by the following statement, derived from an authentic 
source, and worthy, I think, of preservation for future refer- 
ence. Eighty-six thousand bushels of wheat — one hundred 
and twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and sixty barrels of 
flour — Ninety thousand, seven hundred and forty-three bush- 
els of Indian corn — ^Five hundred and ninety-nine hogsheads, 
eight hundred and twelve tierces, twenty-eight thousand, 
three hundred and thirty-eight barrels, seven thousand, five 
hundred and eighty-eight quarter casks, and two hundred 
and forty-nine tons of bread — Nine hundred and twenty-five 
barrels of beef — Three thousand, four hundred and thirty-one 
barrels of pork — Nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty-five 
hogsheads, four hundred and fifty-four half-hogsheads, thirty- 
nine tierces, and two hundred and twenty-one barrels of 
flax-seed — Four millions, eight hundred and twelve thousand, 
nine hundred and forty-three staves — Four thousand, four 
hundred and ninety-one bars — one hundred and eighty-nine 
tons ofoar, and two hundred and five tons of pig iron — Three 
hundred and five chests, thirty-two half chests, and fifteen 
quarter chests, of skins and furs — and one hundred and twelve 
barrels, six boxes, two tierces, and five hogsheads of ginseng, 
were, in that year, shipped at Philadelphia, for neighbouring 
and foreign markets. The value of this produce, in money, 
cannot be easily known; but taking wheat at 3^. lOd. corn at 
3*. flax-seed at 25. 6c?. per bushel — beef at 50s. and pork at 75^. 
per barrel, which are the ascertained prices current, and ven- 
turing upon a calculation in regard to the other articles, the 
whole will not fall far short of one million of dollars; at a^ 
period, when, on the authority of Proud, the estimated popu- 
lation of the whole province could not have exceeded sixteen 
thousand families, or reckoning each family to consist of six, 
not amounting to one hundred thousand souls.* These facts 

* It will be seen by the following statement of the value of Imports and 
-Exports, and of the quantity of American and foreig-n tonnag-e entered into 
and departing from the district* of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 



11 

are adduced, to exhibit the natural productiveness of the soil, 
and the success with which it was managed for seventy years 
from the arrival of the first settlers; and likewise to prove, 
that owing to a lamentable negligence of the adoption of 
means for sustaining the land under cultivation, when two- 
thirds, if not three-fourths, of the cleared grounds were ara- 
ble, wheat, its staple product, could not have yielded, on an 
average, more than six bushels per acre. This deterioration 
gradually took place from 1760 to 1783. The prejudicial 

more, Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, during' the year ending- on 
the 30th of September, 1824, that with a population ten times greater than 
that of the period in question, the domestic exports of Philadelphia, drawn 
for the most part from the same district of country, and including manufac- 
tures, were, in the last year, little more than three times as valuable. This 
interesting document, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Samuel 
Breck, Esq. one of the representatives in congress from this district, fur- 
nishes evidence also of the increasing commerce of Philadelphia. From 
the fourth or fifth, she has risen to be the second city of the United States 
as it regards exports, and is not far below the same rank on the scale of 
imports. 



IMPORTS IN 



EXPORTS. 



American I 
"Vessels. I 



Foreign 

Vessels. 



Total. 



Domestic Foreign Total 



Boston 

N. York 

Philada. 

Baltimore 

Charleston 

Savannah 

N. Orleans 



12,695,325 

34,200,627 

11,205,278 

4,360,837 

1,461,519 

409,463 

3,110,261 



130,885 
1,768,888 
660,253 
182,538 
703,021 
133,802 
1,429,508, 



12,826,210 

34,969,515 

11,865,531 

4,543,375 

2,164,540 

543,265 

4,539,769 



2,204,313 
12,410,401 
3,182,694 
2,555,417 
7,833,708 
4,585,885 
6,442,946 



4,820,079 
9,368,480 
6,182,199 
1,313,276 
200,369 
3,980 
1,485,864 



7,024,392 
21,778,881 
9,364,893 
3,868,693 
8,034,077 
4,589,865 
7,928,810 





TONNAGE. 






American 


Foreign 




Ent'd. 


Cleared 


Ent'd. 


Clear'd 


Boston 


118,780 


92,312 


5,192 


4,667 


New York 


222,368 


213,920 


18,139 


16,322 


Philadelphia 


76,617 


76,631 


4,938 


5,635 


Baltimore 


57,159 


72,922 


4,981 


6,017 


Charleston 


39,770 


61,092 


17,548 


18,878 


Savannah 


17,219 


32,951 


11,583 


11,716 


New Orleans 


63^305 


54,139 


24,261 


21,996 



12 

effects of the mode of managing the land, by the immediate 
descendants of the early occupants, continue to be felt by 
those who adopt the same practice in the fertile sections of 
this state which have been more recently settled; and if the 
adventurous people who enter the wilderness, pursue, for fif- 
teen or twenty years, the plan of draining the land of its^ 
nourishment, by successions of crops on the same fields, they 
will ultimately discover that their farms cannot maintain them. 
Many soils, which at first produced from twenty-five to thirty- 
five bushels of wheat per acre, have ceased to yield a third 
part of that quantity. Warned by experience, let them here- 
after avoid a course so improvident. Purchasers, who do 
not intend themselves to settle in new countries, may disre- 
gard these considerations; but proprietors, who live remote 
from their estates, and who give what are termed improving 
leases, should guard against so formidable an evil. 

It is perhaps justifiable to conclude, from the evidence we 
possess, that Pennsylvania, in her colonial character, furnish- 
ed good examples of husbandry, and that the products of her 
industry were not only ample for her own supply, but that 
the surplus found a ready market abroad, and among her 
less favoured neighbours. This reputation was not uniform- 
ly maintained, nor did she resume her efibrts, and rise again 
on the scale of agricultural importance, until she assumed the 
character of one of the members of the American Republic. 
In every sense, another era then commenced in our history, 
nor was its least important feature exhibited on the surface of 
the country. 

The use of lime and gypsum, as fertilizers of the ground, 
the introduction of clover, and the rotation of crops, consti- 
tute the happy causes which gave the first grand impulse to 
the agricultural prosperity of modern Pennsylvania. 

Nothing, perhaps, requires more perseverance than the ef- 
fort to overcome the injudicious habits of men in connexior^ 
with the chief secular pursuit of their lives. This remark 



13 

has heretofore applied with peculiar force to the husband- 
men of Pennsylvania, and the individual who here entered 
the lists in this fearful conflict with prejudice, must be allowed 
to have possessed no inconsiderable share of moral courage, 
united with comprehensive patriotism and benevolence. 

The merit of introducing gypsum to the notice of the far- 
mers of the United States, belongs, with various other im- 
portant suggestions, to my venerable friend, who has so long, 
so disinterestedly, and so ably presided over this institution; 
—a gentleman whose distinguished services need not my 
voice to enlarge the plenteous reward of gratitude and respect 
which crown the evening of his useful day. He well knows 
that I would not offend him by adulation; but as an induce- 
ment to every mind desirous to put forth its energies in the 
good work in which he has ever taken the deepest interest, 
I feel bound to exhibit the surprising results which well di- 
rected and untiring efforts may accomplish. Like the early 
patron of husbandry and rural affairs in England, our Fitzher- 
bert found leisure amidst the duties of a profession which 
gave him eminence at the bar, and subsequently distinction 
on the bench, to make and to give to the public his judicious 
experiments in agriculture. 

In the year 1770, he first became acquainted with gypsum. 
A small quantity of which was then sent from Germany to a 
merchant of this city, with some information of its value as 
a manure, then but recently and accidentally discovered. It 
was said concerning it, that a labourer who had been employ- 
ed in mixing stucco mortar, passed and repassed from his 
work to his cottage, across a sterile field. The succeeding 
season his path threw up a luxuriant crop of grass, which he 
attributed to the plaister that fell from his clothes, and was 
thus induced to make an experiment near his dwelling, with 
the remainder of the article in his possession. The effects 
astonished every beholder, and the cottager received a reward 
from his landlord for divulging the secret. Our president, 



/ 



14 

aware of these facts, began his experiments with a single 
bushel of gypsum, obtained from a maker of stucco ornaments 
in Philadelphia, and afterwards pursued and extended them 
in proportion to his means. Not long after about twenty 
tons of this valuable material came as ballast in a ship from 
London to this port, without the least knowledge of its worth 
by the captain who brought it, which stock formed the founda- 
tion of the vast improvements to our husbandry, subsequently 
resulting from its general use. Having altogether satisfied 
himself of the fertilizing effects of plaister of Paris, Judge 
Peters disseminated the knowledge he had acquired through 
many parts of Pennsylvania, and the then neighbouring pro- 
vinces; but his success in persuading his countrymen to credit 
his assertions, and in inducing others to make trial of the sul- 
phate of lime, was at first limited and very discouraging. 
He nevertheless continued his labours, and by publishing and 
otherwise enforcing the facts he possessed on this subject, had 
the happiness to witness the triumph of his doctrines, over 
the combined forces of ignorance, prejudice, and ridicule. 
What have been the consequences flowing from the use of 
this fertilizing principle, and how much it has contributed to 
the solid wealth of Pennsylvania, and of many other states in 
this union, is far beyond the reach of computation. The his- 
tory of human concerns will furnish few such instances as 
the one we are now contemplating. That an individual 
should begin a system intended to revive an exhausted soil, 
by the application of a manure which at the time was not 
known to exist on this continent, the theatre of his experi- 
ments; that he should succeed in establishing the principle 
for which he contended; that he should afterwards set on foot 
the inquiry, where this wonderful agent could be found, so as 
to place it within the reach of the American Farmer, at a 
price which he could afford to give for it; that gypsum should 
be discovered in exhaustless quantities in this hemisphere, 
that thousands of tons of it should be annually brought, and 



15 

spread over hundreds of thousands of acres in Pennsylvania, 
restoring the land, and bringing forth abundance, are the as- 
tonishing results, and the high reward which this constant 
friend to the interests and prosperity of our husbandmen has 
lived to know and to enjoy. Whilst our president was thus 
earnestly engaged in bestowing incalculable benefits on our 
state and country, he was by no means unmindful of other 
interesting and important improvements in rural economy. 
His ancient patrimonial estates in the vicinity of Philadel- 
phia, then under his immediate direction, furnished practical 
evidence of the sincerity and utility of his doctrines concern- 
ing agriculture. It was upon those farms that the first exam- 
ples were shown of the use of lime and gypsum, of the value 
of several new grasses, of trench and fall ploughing, of deep 
culture, &c. and there also were cultivated upon a large scale, 
many of the roots since generally and profitably adopted. 
Upon his inclosures were to be seen some of the finest breeds 
of horses, cattle, and sheep, then known in the state. I have 
heard him say with what mortification he beheld, during the 
revolutionary war, eleven out of fourteen superior blooded 
colts shot down for their hides, by a party of British marau- 
ders, after in vain attempting to rescue them from such wan- 
ton destruction. 

His household, too, was a pattern for the imitation of farm- 
ers in the manufacture of linen and woollen fabrics, far be- 
yond the demand for domestic purposes; displaying an at- 
tention to a branch of business, now too much neglected by 
the generality of our rural fellow citizens, at an expense, I 
fear, of habits of simplicity, which were proverbial in former 
days. 

About the time that gypsum was first brought, a small 
quantity of red clover seed also reached Pennsylvania, and 
was sown in gardens, and on pasture lots in the neighbourhood 
of this city. In the year 1773, a practical farmer*, then be- 



* James Vaux. 



16 

ginning to improve his estate at Flatland Ford, in the county 
of Montgomery, unable to procure, on this side of the Atlan- 
tic, a sufficient quantity of this seed for his purpose, obtained 
from England a cask of it, which, owing to some injury sus- 
tained on the voyage, was found unfit for use. This disap- 
pointment was the more to be lamented, because his projected 
experiment would have been the first in that vicinity, perhaps 
in the state, with clover upon a large scale. This failure, 
moreover, prevented an increase and distribution of the seed 
until after the war then existing between the American colo- 
nies and the mother country. The same gentleman who thus 
early desired to cultivate that artificial grass, in the spring of 
1785, sowed eighty pounds of clover seed on thirty-five acres 
of green wheat, an account of the success of which he sent to 
this society in 17S7. In the same communication he sub- 
mits the following views for the improvement of farming. 
^' Breaking up land is perfectly understood by all our farm- 
ers, I may say to an extreme degree, which ought to be coun^ 
teracted by obtaining the art of laying down land with artifi- 
cial grass seed, otherwise the arable land in the old counties 
of Pennsylvania will in a very few years become of little 
value. Laying down lands properly being an object of im- 
portance on the great scale of agriculture, it is incumbent upon 
you to impress the necessity there is, that this art should not 
only be understood, but practised, by all farmers, rich or poor, 
let their soil be clay, loam, or any mixture whatever. The 
earth, like the animal body, is capable of supporting a certain 
degree of labour, and like it, requires proportionable nutri- 
ment, rest, and cleanliness, but withhold from the land those 
necessary reliefs, and like a starved, over-worked, and ne- 
glected slave, it will be worn out, and instead of making pro- 
fit to the owner and benefit to the state, it will impoverish 
the one, and disgrace the other. '^ He then proceeds to re- 
commend that the legislature should allow a bounty on clover 
seed, and adds, " I leave the society to press this measure, for 
it is deserving of its notice, and the full countenance of every 



17 



legislator: I will boldly assert it will prove of more benefit 
to agriculture and stock in the present state of our country, 
than any thing that can be done. Reduce the price of clover 
seed, and instead of bare fields, daily washing away, you will 
see them covered with grass and cattle."* Sentiments, such 
as these, were no doubt regarded as visionary and extravagant 
by the great majority of farmers at that time on the active 
stage of life, yet this practical instructor has lived to witness 
the accuracy of his opinions, and the fulfilment of his predic- 
tion, to an extent far beyond what he may have anticipated. 
Next in importance to the improvement of the land by 
judicious modes of cropping, and the application of restora- 
tives suited to the various qualities of the soil, are roads, 
bridges, canals, and the rendering of streams navigable. The 
husbandman will toil in vain, if the products of his labour 
cannot reach a market by a moderate expenditure of time 
and money. The necessity of facilitating the intercourse be- 
tween the interior, remote parts, and the sea board of Penn- 
sylvania, was early perceived by many of her enlightened 
citizens, who, in the prosecution of their designs, had to con- 
tend with difficulties similar to those which impeded the ex- 
ertions to renovate her husbandry. Some improvements had 
been made during the provincial age of Pennsylvania, by the 
removal of obstructions to the descending navigation of ri- 
vers, but the first turnpike constructed on this side of the At- 
lantic, is that which was completed between Philadelphia and 
Lancaster in 1794. Since that period, more than a thousand 
miles of artificial road have been made of stone in various 
parts of the commonwealth. Bridges of great magnitude 
and beauty have also been thrown across our principal rivers, 
at an expense of more than a million and a half of dollars, 
whilst the utility and cost of those of an inferior grade, in 
nearly all the counties of the state, cannot be readily esti- 



* Ten thousand bushels of clover seed have, within a few months past, 
been exported from Philadelphia to Europe, chiefly to England. 



18 

mated. It is now almost half a century since the noble de- 
sign was formed of uniting the Delaware and Susquehanna 
rivers^ by means of the waters of the Schuylkill and Swatara. 
The failure of so grand a scheme, with great pecuniary loss 
to those who engaged in it, vitally affected the interests of 
our agriculture, but the lock navigation rapidly progressing 
to completion on the same route, penetrating as it will to a 
remote interior point, hitherto inaccessible by such modes of 
communication, promises to all our different interests results 
of the greatest magnitude. The difference between transporta- 
tion upon a good turnpike and upon a common road, is familiar 
to every one; but the difference is immense between even the 
best turnpike^and a canal. A single horse will draw, with 
ease, twenty -five tons, two miles and a half per hour upon the 
latter, but to move an equal weight upon the former, at the 
same rate, would require forty horses; wliat a vast saving must 
here be made in animals and in provender, and a large part of 
this, too, for the benefit of the husbandman, because his stock 
may be less, and his saleable produce greater, and he may be 
enabled to carry many new articles to market, by all the dif- 
ference of consumption. Canals will also promote the use of 
oxen instead of horses, to the acknowledged profit of the 
farmer. 

The introduction of coal will constitute a new era in Penn- 
sylvania. It will enable the farmers of a large district to con- 
vert grounds occupied by wood to the production of valuable 
crops, and lime and other manures will be transported by ca- 
nals, to points which they could never otherwise have reach- 
ed. Canals will likewise greatly contribute to promote the 
policy of the state, in the subdivision of property; and by giv- 
ing additional means for sustaining a large population upon a 
small surface, must create new towns, new manufactories, and 
new markets. Had not the canal of New York eclipsed al- 
most all similar undertakings, a distinguished place might be 
claimed for Pennsylvania, as a patron of inland navigation. 



19 

The works on the Schuylkill, now completed, extend one 
hundred and eleven miles. Forty miles of the Union canal 
are nearly finished, and when the latter readies its termina- 
tion, the ao-gregate will not be much short of two hundred 
miles. To encourage and promote in future the formation 
of canals, wherever the geological features of the territory in- 
vite, or will admit of such improvement, is at once the duty 
and the interest of all who seek the permanent welfare of our 
agriculture. In addition to the early aids afforded to the hus- 
bandry of the state, I ought not to omit the important fact, 
that the selection and introduction of valuable domestic ani- 
mals was not disregarded, even when the minds of the early 
benefactors of agriculture were directed to the pri'mary duty 
of increasing the products of the land. Some excellent breeds 
of sheep, and swine, were brought from abroad, many years 
ago, and great pains were taken to spread them among our 
farmers. But the great importance of this subject has been 
but recently urged with effect upon their notice. Our useful 
fellow citizen and associate John Hare Powel, whose indefati- 
gable labours deserve the highest commendation, has, at much 
expense, imported some individuals of the best families of 
cattle and sheep known in Europe. His judicious and libe- 
ral design is to prove, that all the beasts which administer to 
our necessities, or conduce to our comforts, ought to be 
chosen and bred in reference to their respective qualities. 
The horse, for the various employments to which that noble 
and generous animal is so admirably fitted. The ox, whether 
for labour, or for the shambles. Sheep, whether most profita- 
ble for the fleece, or carcase. The cow, as adapted to the 
dairy, or otherwise more advantageous, as circumstances and 
interest may dictate. To this laudable pursuit, cornbined w^ith 
rural affairs generally, he has succeeded in awakening the at- 
tention of a body of respectable and intelligent cultivators of 
their own farms, in various counties of the state, whO;, consti- 



20 

tuting " The *dgricidtural Society of Pennsylvania,''- 
will no doubt contribute largely to the general good. 

The first volume of the memoirs of that society, contain- 
ing the observations and experience of practical farmers and 
breeders of stock, will, I trust, be widely disseminated for 
the instruction and gratification of their brethren throughout 
our country. And although, in some respects, the associa- 
tion may be regarded as a rival of this institution, I am 
confident the members of the parent establishment, whom I 
now address, will never cease to contemplate, vvith unaffected 
pleasure, the prosperity and usefulness of all its descendants, 
however numerous they may become throughout the land. 
Associations of this kind have performed no small part in 
bringing agriculture to its present improved state, and they 
deserve to be classed among the most efficient means of future 
advancement to that dignified occupation. To these benefi- 
cent ends this society has been devoted for forty years, in 
the course of which it has sought information, and maintain- 
ed an intercourse with similar institutions, and with indivi- 
duals engaged in the promotion of improvements in the agri- 
culture of Europe, whence it has derived not only books of 
great utility, but implements of husbandry of various kinds, 
as well as grains, grass, and other seeds, and roots, which 
have been here cultivated with profit. Nor is this all: the 
information thus obtained from abroad, and the experience 
of practical husbandmen at home, placed at its disposal, have 
been extensively and freely distributed, with acknowledged 
benefit. These means, various and efficient as they may seem 
would have been in a great degree inoperative, but for the 
salubrious climate of Pennsylvania, which, co-operating vvith 
industrious habits, has formed a hardy race, whose physical 
and moral faculties, generously exercised, have increased the 
agricultural riches of the state. Corroborative of this idea it 
is believed that the parallelogram bounded 
Noith-West, by the Blue-ridge, 



^1 

North-East, by the Delaware, 

South-East, by the Delaware, and the canal wliich is about 
to connect it with the Susquehanna, and 

South- West, by the Susquehanna, contains a greater pro- 
portion of arable land of superior quality, and a greater po- 
pulation on a square mile, than any equal extent in the 
Atlantic States; whilst it cannot be doubted, that the same 
region enjoys advantages in mineral products, streams, &.c. 
which few other sections of our country can boast. 

Such, gentlemen, is a rapid survey of some of the natural 
advantages which belong to the favoured place of our nativity, 
and also of the means that have been employed to promote 
and expand the interests of our husbandry. That these efforts 
were beneficial no one can question, who will make a com- 
parison of the past with the present condition of the soil, or 
who shall investigate, with a philosophic eye, the interesting 
combination of causes which have produced all the moral and 
intellectual results that have been adverted to. Much, how- 
ever, must still be done in order to ascertain the diversified 
resources of the farmer, and to apply them to the increase of 
his skill, of his profit, of his comforts, and withal of the em- 
bellishment of his possessions. Hitherto the main object has 
been to renovate our husbandry upon a large scale, by means 
of general principles, which have been to a considerable ex- 
tent successfully applied. But it may be well to invite every 
cultivator of the earth to inquire minutely into the character 
of the soil he tills, and its local advantages, so that these may 
be turned to the best account. The scite and construction of 
dwelling-houses, and of other buildings on a farm, are sub- 
jects of more importance than appear to have been generally 
admitted. A careful disposition of the adjoining grounds 
might add to their utility, and materially improve their 
appearance. The planting of hedges, and the construction 
of walls, would afford ornamental, permanent, and, in the 



22 

end, the cheapest inclosures. Springs and streams of water, 
as an auxiliary to vegetation, are seldom resorted to, though 
this might be done at a small expense, and by a simple 
process. The proper management of stock, is a subject of 
great importance, more neglected, I believe, than any other 
department of rural affairs. The cultivation of roots, and the 
feeding of these with other nutritious ingredients, in warm 
messes during the winter, would allow of a useful change of 
diet, as essential to the health of beasts as of men; whilst 
care should be taken for the same ends, to keep the animals 
and their apartments as clean as possible. Such practices 
would soon establish their value by the increased profits of 
the dairy. The soiling of cattle, to prevent waste of pasture 
and manure, in the season of grass, has been tried and ap- 
proved by some persons, and is worthy of further experiment. 
The selection and proper care of fruit trees, although a sub- 
ject now more regarded than formerly, should claim a more 
general notice of the cultivators of the soil. The judicious 
management of bees, whose products are among the luxuries 
of our tables, and at the same time valuable in foreign com- 
merce, deserves attention, particularly in the neighbourhood 
of this metropolis, where, within my brief remembrance, the 
quantity of honey and bees-wax brought to market is greatly 
diminished, and more than threefold increased in price. 
Although the lamentable effects of ardent spirits have been 
frequently and most feelingly delineated, I cannot refrain 
from enforcing on the understanding and the heart of every 
farmer, the magnitude of this evil. I would invoke his pa- 
triotism, and with it every tender and generous sentiment, 
to aid in the extirpation of this mighty scourge. Wives 
abandoned and disconsolate — widows destitute — estates wast- 
ed — orphans helpless — parents bowed down with grief over 
the once fair promise of their sons — in a word, the most in- 
tense domestic calamities, every where utter warning, and 



23 

demand reformation. A substitute for this poisonous article 
may be had in cider, but more beneficially in sound malt li- 
quor, the process for making which is simple, and the appa- 
ratus by no means expensive. As an inducement for farmers 
and others, who employ labourers, to substitute some whole- 
some beverage, would it not be wise to offer honorary pre- 
miums? The neglect of gardens in many parts of the coun- 
try is obvious. They seldom contain the variety of escu- 
lents that might be cultivated without additional expense or 
labour, and be found valuable in point of economy, and pro- 
motive of health. I could enumerate other objects connected 
with the business of farming, less important, but not beneath 
the notice of the independent yeomen of Pennsylvania. It 
is time, however, to close this part of my discourse, as I pro- 
pose to claim your indulgence a few moments longer, whilst 
I cursorily offer one other view of this extensive subject. 
The moralist has often taxed his ingenuity to prove, that vir- 
tue finds no congenial clime but in the country; and the poet, 
when happiness becomes his theme, fixing his eye, at once, 
Upon ihe cottage, sings, in seducing numbers, the exclusive 
■joys of those who labour '^ in the fields for health uii- 
boughty^' who tread green pastures, and at harvest-home, 
along the margin of some flowery stream, repose their care- 
less limbs amid the shade of spreading trees, or with en- 
raptured ears listen to murmuring rills and warbling birds, 
or sometimes to the 



tender tale, 



*• Beneath the milk-white thorn, that scents the evening* gale." ' 

These captivating but airy creations of the fancy, the mirage 
of the morning of life, may naturally for a moment mislead 
our sober reason, but the meridian beams of experience must 
finally dissipate them. The existence of such illusions is the 
more to be deprecated, because, by ascribing to mere locality 
all that ennobles our nature and constitutes our best estate^ 



24 

they arrest the development of those principles, and the ex- 
ercise of those habits, which are every where necessary to the 
attainment of moral excellence. Where temptations are most 
numerous and powerful, there will resistance to evil call for 
the greatest exertions; and happiness, the constant attendant 
of virtue, must always depend on the degree of delicacy and 
refinement which intellectual culture, and the exercise of the 
generous sympathies of the heart, are sure to produce. Pu- 
rity of mind does not grow like the herb of the field, nor 
bloom as the shrub of the garden, in obedience to the laws of 
insensible matter. Innocence is ever most adorned and 
lovely when, walking in her strength amidst the multitude, 
she keeps herself unspotted from the world. To the mind 
opened by liberal studies, and rectified by christian discipline, 
a country life affords abundant food for reflection and improve- 
ment, but, without these preparations, cannot conduce to vir- 
tue, more than the busy scenes of a metropolis, with its larger 
relative proportions of folly and of wickedness. 

It must be admitted, that the seclusion of the country for- 
bids the contemplation of human character in several of its 
interesting varieties, and excludes many of those objects of 
sympathy and beneficence which, in a compact population, 
every day teach striking lessons of the frailty of our nature, 
and urge us to the fulfilment of the highest duties belonging 
to our fleeting and accountable probation. Were it necessary 
to enter more fully into the relative moral condition of the 
country and the town, it might be shown that the latter would 
not suffer by a rigid comparison with the former. It is suffi- 
cient to say, that in the course of an investigation, incidentally 
involving the subject, which took place before a committee of 
the British parliament a few years ago, it was ascertained that 
the agricultural districts of England are not so free from pub- 
licly recognized crime, as those more densely peopled. 

My present purpose, however, is to invite your more par- 
ticular attention to the importance of moral, literary, and 



■23 



scientific instruction, as calculated to promote the best in- 
lerests, and real happiness of our fellow men, whether dwell- 
ing in town or country. 

As a state, we are lamentably supine, considering the ability 
we possess, in measures for diffusing useful knowledge among 
all classes of our citizens. In Philadelphia, it is true, and in 
its vicinity, some efforts have been made to educate the mass 
of the population, and the system pursued has been so efficient 
and economical, as to recommend itself wherever, in Pennsyl- 
vania, it may be practicable to collect children into schools in 
sufficient numbers to give effect to Lancaster's admirable plan 
of education. But ultimate results, of more importance than 
anere elementary instruction, ought to be steadily kept in view. 
Daily observation confirms the truth of lord Bacon's senti- 
ment, that '' knowledge is poiver.'' It is the knowledge of 
2)rinciples which enables our mechanics, artizans, and manu- 
facturers to perfect, as they do, their various products; and all 
the difference observable between the rude efforts of the ig- 
norant, and the well finished specimens of the instructed, ts 
attributable to that superior skill which, with proper exertions, 
lies within the reach of all. Will not science, in like manner, 
augment the efficiency of the husbandman's labours, and se- 
cure to him more abundant rewards? It has not, I am aware, 
been customary to associate the idea of learning with the bu- 
siness of agriculture, and hence this art, the parent of all 
others, has been retarded in its progress. Chemistry, mine- 
ralogy, and botany, unfold many secrets which would prove 
invaluable to the farmer. It is the province of the first to 
investigate the nature of soils, to inquire into the causes of 
their fertility or barrenness, to determine the best composi- 
tion of manure, and what is most calculated to render each 
particular kind of soil productive. The knowledge of chem- 
istry enabled Lavoisier to double his crops in a few years, and 
his experience alone is sufficient to establish its utility. Pos- 
sessed of this science, the husbandman comprehends the mu- 



^^6 

tual agency and value of all the ma/en«/ gifts of the Creator^ 
but without it must wander in the dark, and for himself and 
his offspring renounce, perhaps criminally, many enjoyments, 
the common inheritance of his species. What better service 
then can this, or any other similar society render to humanity, 
than to animate the cultivators of the earth, both by precept 
and example, to the acquisition of scientific knowledge? The 
foundation in Pennsylvania, by competent individuals, of in- 
stitutions like that of Hofvvyl, in Switzerland, would confer 
incalculable benefits upon the state. Our youth might then 
become accomplished husbandmen, and be at the same time 
fitted to perform all the relative and social duties of life. 
The establishment which I have mentioned, is upon a larger 
scale than could, in the first instance, be reasonably formed 
here; but the plan, in its practical details, might be adopted 
with modifications suited to our political character and in- 
stitutions. 

Fellenberg is upon a farm of ample dimensions, where he 
furnishes to those under his care a complete education. — 
Commencing with the ordinary elements, he inspires, in the 
course of his instruction, mild and benevolent affections — 
enforces the importance of time, and the value of industry, 
and always addresses his lessons to the more noble principles 
of our nature. The business of the pupil is varied, and judi- 
ciously adapted to develope and invigorate his physical ener- 
gies, as well as mental powers. He is taught by a regular 
apprenticeship not only how to use, but how to tnake im- 
plements of husbandry. He passes through a regular course 
of studies; the Greek, Latin, German, and French languages 
and literature; history, sacred and civil; mathematics, che- 
mistry, natural philosophy, and natural history, in all its 
branches. Connected with the plan, is the gratuitous instruc- 
tion of indigent male children of the vicinity. His esta- 
blishment is represented to be so profitable, that capital in- 
Tested in it has been more than doubled in twenty-two years. 



27 

after deducting the expense of educating and maintaining 
forty poor boys, who are taught all the mechanical trades in 
company with their opulent companions. The reputation and 
success of Fellenberg draw to him pupils from England, 
Scotland, Germany, and Russia, and his system has received 
the approbation of competent judges of merit, in other parts 
of Europe. Two or more institutions of this kind, properly 
situated in Pennsylvania, would be extremely beneficial. 
Young men would go forth in every way qualified to teach 
and to illustrate by their example, this truth, that sound re- 
ligious and moral principles, united with liberal scientific 
knowledge, carry to the greatest height individual prosperity 
and public benefit, in every neighbourhood where their in- 
fluence is exerted. We might look to such nurseries for able 
advocates of public measures, fraught with inestimable bless- 
ings to our great commonwealth; and who can predict the 
extent of moral grandeur which, from such an application of 
intellectual force, may distinguish succeeding generations. 

I am thoroughly aware of the many highly cultivated 
minds to be found among the farmers of Pennsylvania, but 
who will not rejoice to witness large additions to the honour- 
able list? 

Cherishing an ardent affection for my native state, I feel 
anxious that, by the employment of every judicious means, 
she may reach the high point which her position and natural 
resources entitle her to hold in this family of republics. She 
has certain materials for greatness, which few, if any, of her 
sisters can command. Her early annals may fearlessly chal- 
lenge a parallel with all other histories of human affairs, and 
her actual condition is elevated and prosperous. By deeds 
of peace, of justice, and of mercy, her infancy was distin- 
guished. Her aboriginal soil owes no debt to heaven for 
having drunk the blood of innocence. From her virtuous 
founders no recompense was due for compacts violated, or 
wrongs inflicted on the friendly natives. Consecrated as the 



28 

asylum of the persecuted, during her primitive age, bigotry 
and intolerance held no dominion within her borders. Reli- 
gion, and liberty, and law, here fixed their sanctuary. Let 
us, then, be justly proud of our illustrious origin, and in every 
valley, and on every hill, may virtue, intelligence, and 
plenty, establish our title to such a lineage, and proclaim our 
gratitude for an inheritance so precious. 



riNis. 



R. Wright, Printer. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




003 220 666 9 ^ 



